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Thursday, 10 January 2013

In Kings Hedges, there are many residential roads with 30 mile and hour speed limits, and every parent (and cat owner too, I suspect) knows what it is to worry about that screech of tyres out in your street.

Thankfully the City Council is moving forward with a City-wide scheme aimed at introducing 20mph speed limits in most streets within the city. Major roads will remain at 30mph.

I certainly agree with this reporter with the Cambridge News, and support these changes.

It is crazy that the limit for the streets with our homes, and near our children's schools are still 30mph limits.

The first round of funding was completed in March and grants were awarded at the 17th May meeting of the North Area Committee. This round closes on the 30th September for decision at the 22nd November meeting.

If you want help putting together a bid please contact us using the details on the left.

Tuesday, 3 July 2012

In order to better promote what your local Liberal Democrats are doing for you we took the very difficult decision to switch from Google (which we all love!) to the slightly better supported (at last by the UK Liberal Democrats) MyCouncillor platform.

One of the issues was the EU Cookies directive that, if we're honest, we weren't sure how we'd implement on Blogger; much better to switch to a platform where a "national" solution will be provided - I'm expecting many other blogs to make this switch as well.

And we'll no longer be making updates to this site ... I hope you'll find the new website just as useful as our current one but if you have any issues you can always contact us and we'll help you out where we can.

Thanks again for all your support over the years, and see you on the new site ;-)

Thursday, 24 May 2012

A £5 million boost for Cambridgeshire Transport from Lib Dem Minister, Norman Baker has been welcomed by the county’s Liberal Democrats and Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert.

The funding will boost cycling, opening up new routes and improving cycle parking, and encourage people onto public transport in key areas of employment and growth across the county.

Julian said: “It is great to see a Lib Dem minister in government delivering on public and sustainable transport for Cambridge and the county generally.

“Norman Baker has shown time and time again that he genuinely understands the problems faced by years of neglect of our transport systems and infrastructure under the previous Labour government.

“In a short time, he has worked to put this right and we are seeing funding for real improvements on the ground. This money will make a big difference to the lives of people in Cambridge and across the county.”

Susan van de Ven, Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport on Cambridgeshire County Council said: “This funding is very welcome, badly needed and desperately important in a fast growing county where we need to avoid congestion and enable people to take up job opportunities.

"I hope that a strengthened public transport network in the county's more populated areas could also have a knock-on effect to more rural areas."

The Local Sustainable Transport Fund grant is designed to encourage people onto public transport, in key areas of employment and growth such as between Huntington and Cambridge, Northstowe and the Guided Busway and the Cambridge to Ely rail corridor.

The fund allows improvement to a whole range of transport interchanges and practical support for Travel for Work schemes.

It will support cycle parking at Cambridge and Ely rail stations and the Guided Busway and there will be some new cycle routes

“I hope the fund sees a bigger take-up of public transport as the best way of moving around the county,” added Cllr van de Ven.

Three more parents have been prosecuted for failing to ensure their children attend Thomas Clarkson Community College in Wisbech.

All three pleaded guilty to the charges at Peterborough Magistrates' Court. One was given a 6-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs and a £15 victim surcharge, while the other two were each given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The prosecutions were brought by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Education welfare officers, who are conducting regular truancy sweeps in the area, thanked local shops and supermarkets for their support.

Thomas Clarkson Community College Vice-Principal David Gray said: "Children need to go to school. The courts play an important role in ensuring parents take their responsibilities regarding school attendance, seriously. Schools work closely with parents to help them do their best but sadly in some cases court action like this is necessary in the best interests of our young people."

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Television celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver’s fight to get the government to make sure new academies and free schools don’t serve junk food to their pupils has been backed by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert.

Julian raised the issue with Education Minister, Michael Gove after he received a letter from Jamie and an email from a resident both expressing their concerns.

He has also signed a Commons’ Early Day Motion welcoming Jamie’s campaign and calling on Mr Gove to change the law to make academies and free schools serve food that meets nutritional regulations.

Julian said: “It is vital that our children receive good, nutritional meals, not only to promote healthy living now but also to teach them how to eat well for the future.

“We have children across the country who are obese because of poor diets and lack of exercise. We cannot afford to take any chances that this problem will be compounded by poor nutritional standards in our schools when we have introduced laws to protect against it.

“All schools teaching our children should be bound by the regulations put in place to safeguard the health of pupils in their care; there should be no exceptions.”

Mr Gove told Julian: “Free schools and new academies which have been set up from September 2010 are not required to comply with the school food standards.

“Studies by the School Food Trust now provide good evidence of the benefits of a balanced meal on pupils’ concentration, behaviour and ability to learn. Given this evidence we expect that free schools and academies will still want to promote healthy eating and good nutrition through the provision of high quality lunch services.

“We have asked the School Food Trust to survey the quality of food in a sample of academies in response to concerns raised by Jamie Oliver and we expect the trust to report to us within the next few months.”

The full wording of the EDM is as follows:

That this House recognises the impact of unhealthy eating and obesity on children's health and well-being; expresses its concern that academies and free schools opened since September 2010 are not required to adhere to the mandatory standards for school food; welcomes the joint Jamie Oliver Children's Food Campaign, Food for Life Partnership, LACA and School Food Matters Save Our School Food Standards campaign; and calls on the Secretary of State to amend the Education (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007 to require academies and free schools to adhere to the standards for school food so that the one million children now attending these schools can benefit from this commitment to their health and well-being.

MP Julian Huppert has received assurances from train operator Greater Anglia that £4 million worth of improvement work is planned at Cambridge railway station’s booking hall after he received a complaint.

The number of entry gates is to be increased to improve the flow of customers to platforms and the ticket hall will be opened up to create more space for additional ticket machines.

Julian was given news of the planned improvements after a complaint about the length of queues as customers waited to use ticket machines.

He was told that on one occasion the queue stretched out of the building across the road in front of the taxis to the car park.

After passengers complained, a railway station worker came out with a portable ticket machine and started selling tickets.

At the same time, a train arrived and the ticket hall was jammed with customers and there were fears that someone could be seriously injured in the crush.

Julian said: “This whole scenario was extremely worrying. Clearly, the ticket hall is inadequate for the amount of passengers using the station.

“I am pleased, therefore, that Greater Anglia is planning major works which will open up the ticket hall providing more space for passengers moving through and an increased number of machines.

“Cambridge station is very busy with commuters and passengers and priority has to be to get these people to and from their destinations safely and efficiently.”

Greater Anglia Customer Relations Manager, Lynsey Flack told Julian: “The booking hall at Cambridge station is due for considerable improvement during the lifetime of our current, short rail franchise. This is part of the Cambridge redevelopment plan.”

And she acknowledged that the experience relayed to Julian was “far from acceptable”.

Savings should be made from the fire service’s senior management costs so that the county’s front-line can be protected, claim Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats.

They will remind Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority tomorrow (Thursday, May 24) that the safety of the public and staff is their primary responsibility as they meet to discuss cuts of over £5 million.

"Support services and fire-fighters have faced the brunt of the cuts agreed so far but senior management have so far seemed immune from this austerity,” said Nigel Bell, Lib Dem leader on the fire authority.

“Fire-fighters have reluctantly agreed shift changes and staff reductions that create £900k of annual savings and it's time that the senior management team costs were included in the savings review.

“We cannot support cuts to the front-line, they are unacceptable and could cost lives, and we must pursue all other options.”

The Lib Dem Members proposed council tax rises of 3.5 per cent for four years, instead of the proposed 2.5 per cent for three years, to fill the estimated funding gap, an increase of 1p a week or 58p a year for Band D properties. This would have meant frontline cuts on the current predictions for government grant settlement levels could have been avoided.

They will tell the authority tomorrow to:

Reject many of the Phase One cuts (numbered four to 12 in the table in the fire authority papers attached) and the Phase Two cuts;

Review all the fire service’s senior management costs, including the 'Silver Fleet' vehicles, with a view to achieving savings:

Examine all opportunities for closer working with other Fire Services to achieve potential savings;

Consider the prudent use of reserves to offset short-term shortfalls in funding levels;

Continue to press the case with MPs and the Fire Minister for a fair grant settlement for the county’s fire service.

MP Julian Huppert is to find out more about how he could save up to 30 per cent on his household energy bills when he meets representatives from a new company on Friday (May 25).

Collective Power UK promises to aim to lower gas and electricity prices by collective buying for customers across the Eastern region.

By collecting together the details of a large pool of consumers, the company, based in Haslingfield Road, Harston, will negotiate with the energy companies to cut bills.

The service is free to customers and could save between 10 and 30 per cent on household fuel costs.

Julian said: “I am interested to find out more about this idea. We have all noticed how energy prices have soared in recent months and any idea which could help us to save money has to be worthwhile.

“Collective purchasing already seems to be working well in Holland so there is no reason why it shouldn’t take off here. And it is time that we made the big energy suppliers realised that if they want to keep us loyal they have to be compete for our business in the same way as any other company.”

Tuesday, 22 May 2012

Over the next decade, around a fifth of existing power plants are due to close, against a background of increased energy demand and increasing prices. We need new investment simply to keep the lights on.

But more than that, we need a clean energy revolution to meet our ambitious climate change goals and make this the greenest government ever.

We also need to transform our energy market to reduce the risk and cost of low carbon technologies.

That’s what our Bill does.

The UK is fast becoming a world leader in renewable energy, especially in off shore wind. I want us to lead the world in Carbon Capture and Storage too.

And we are also tackling rising energy bills. Without reforming the energy market bills will rise by around £200 in the coming years. Our reforms will mean bills are around 4% lower than they otherwise would have been.

Going green is good for the economy, good for Britain and good for you.

Saturday, 19 May 2012

As part of the European Bike Friendly Cities project Cambridgeshire County Council is looking at increasing the number of one-way streets in Cambridge City that allow two-way cycling. This has recently been made a lot easier to do in that a new plate, "except cycles", can now be added to the standard no-entry signs.

*- These two require additional work. The removal of signage as well as removal of island blocks.

King's Hedges isn't blessed with any specific one-way streets which we could ask for this change to be applied to but if you cycle into the City Centre and would like me to add any other roads to the project please let me know.

Friday, 18 May 2012

Yesterday, the minister in charge of government policy to introduce a lobbying register gave evidence to the House of Commons’ political and constitutional reform committee. You can watch the evidence session here:

In the meeting, he acknowledged that most of the responses to the recent consultation demanded stronger rules on transparency than the ones he had proposed. This accords with Mark Harper’s comments at our own public meeting in Birmingham last month where he admitted that he had united both transparency campaigners and the lobbying industry in demanding the regulations cover a wider range of lobbying activities!

The government is now due to publish a white paper and draft legislation for the lobbying register in this session of parliament - alongside a second consultation process. We welcome this but are concerned by the minister’s repeated assertions that the government intends to “take its time” over the proposed rules, although he insisted that the register would be created by 2015 at the latest. Of course it is crucial the government gets the rules right, and the proposals in its initial consultation were so poor it is clear it will have to go back to first principles. But it doesn’t take years to get the legislation right; it requires political will.

Unlock Democracy: Lobbying Campaign Progress

Thank you to everyone who took part in our campaign in response to the consultation. Last month we handed the Cabinet Office a letter signed by more than 7,000 people (as well as a similar letter, pictured, signed by 28 organisations). As a result of this pressure, it is clear the government now accepts that its initial proposals were unacceptably weak and it has had to go back to the drawing board. You can be assured that we will be continuing to monitor the situation very closely and will alert you the next time an opportunity to influence the process arises.

Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert and Liberal Democrat councillors answered a call for more blood platelet donors on Friday, May 18.

Julian and the five city and county councillors supported a campaign by the NHS Blood and Transplant service to find more platelet donors for the Cambridge Blood Donor Centre.

Cambridge City Councillors, Susannah Kerr, Sarah Brown and Paul Saunders and Cambridgeshire County Councillors, Sarah Whitebread and Ian Manning joined Julian at the mobile blood unit for a one-off testing session at the Star Radio studios in Cambridge’s Mercer’s Row.

They were tested to see if they could donate platelets – tiny cells in the blood which enable clotting and help to step blood loss. These crucial supplies have only a seven day shelf-life and are used to treat patients whose bone marrow isn’t working properly, including cancer and leukaemia patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The Cambridge Blood Donor Centre, on the Addenbrooke’s Hospital site, is one of only two in the East of England to collect platelets and supplies hospitals across East Anglia.

Julian said: “This was such a simple process which took just 15 minutes but if any or all of us are able to donate platelets we will be able to help some very sick people.

“I hope more people will be encouraged to take this test because clearly with such a short shelf-life and the fact that only around one in four people will have a high enough platelet count to make a donation, supplies are needed regularly.

“None of us knows what the future holds but we could find ourselves in the position where we desperately need this service.”

Platelet donors are encouraged to donate regularly, at least once a month and more if possible.

Anyone aged between 17 and 65 can be tested to become a donor along with those aged between 66 and 70 who have given blood before. Those over 70 need to have given a full blood donation in the last two years.

Julian is joined by (from left) Sarah Whitebread, Paul Saunders,Sarah Brown, Ian Manning and Susannah Kerr standup to be counted at the mobile blood unit

NOTE: Platelet donation is a specialised process and can only be done at a handful of centres across the country – including a donor suite at Addenbrookes Hospital. Blood group A negative donors are particularly needed, as their platelets can also be given to patients with other blood groups

Chemotherapy or radiotherapy can destroy healthy as well as diseased cells in the blood. A patient with a low platelet count may be at risk of severe bleeding problems, so they can need many transfusions over the course of their recovery period

Platelets are collected in two ways. A donation of platelets given using a machine which separates the platelets and returns the rest of the blood can give enough for three transfusions. Alternatively, the platelets from four donations of whole blood can give enough for one transfusion. It takes around one and a half hours to make a platelet donation.

Thursday, 17 May 2012

MP Julian Huppert has received assurances from the government that its new Green Deal will give investors long-term confidence to invest in companies tackling climate change, such as the newly-launched Cambridge Retrofit scheme.

Energy and Climate Change Minister, Gregory Barker paid tribute to the organisation which is working to retrofit buildings throughout the City to help make Cambridge the first UK city to meet national carbon reduction targets.

“My department is already working with Cambridge Retrofit which is just the sort of ambitious city-wide retrofit programme the Green Deal is designed to support,” he said during Questions in the House of Commons.

Julian welcomed Mr Barker’s endorsement saying: “Cambridge Retrofit is indeed an excellent programme which will make a huge difference.”

And he asked the Minister: “How will the government ensure there is the stability of energy and climate policies in the long term so investors are willing to put finance into major schemes such as Cambridge Retrofit?”

Mr Barker replied: “We know what investors want; they want TLC, transparency, longevity and certainty and unlike previous short term or stop go policies, the Green Deal is designed to run well into the 2020s giving investors exactly the sort of longevity and certainty they need.”

Later Julian said: “This is very welcome news. I am delighted that the government has shown this commitment to the Green Deal and the fight to tackle climate change.

“For major programmes such as the one run by Cambridge Retrofit, the confidence of investors to put their money into green, carbon reduction companies is vital. These companies rely on the government having a strong, green agenda and that has been clearly demonstrated today.”

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

MP Julian Huppert joined forces with a leading national charity today (Tuesday, May 15) to push the government to include life-saving skills on school timetables.

Julian and members of the British Heart Foundation met Education Minister, Nick Gibb following the charity’s high profile campaign for emergency life support to be taught in biology lessons.

The meeting came after Julian led on an open letter signed by 44 MPs to Education Minister, Michael Gove last month calling for schoolchildren to be taught CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

And he visited the British Heart Foundation shop in Cambridge’s Burleigh Street in January to support the campaign.

Julian has also give his backing to a similar campaign, Pupil, Citizen, Lifesaver being run by the Red Cross which was launched in Westminster last week with politicians, pupils and teachers.

“Teaching our children basic life-saving skills would put hundreds of thousands of potential lifesavers out on the streets every year,” said Julian, who used to volunteer with Cambridge’s St John Ambulance.

“We made a strong case to Nick Gibb for including life saving skills on the National Curriculum and he took on board the huge benefits that it could bring to society as a whole.

“Only a handful of primary schools offer this teaching at the moment. Putting it on school timetables across the country would mean that the next generation would be equipped to tackle an emergency situation calmly and efficiently and more lives could be saved as a result.”

Utility companies could be charged a daily fee for road closures while they carry out work across Cambridgeshire.

The idea has been put forward by Liberal Democrat Councillor Sarah Whitebread and would apply to companies laying new gas or water mains or carrying out similar work in the county.

Cllr Whitebread, who represents Cambridge’s Market Ward on Cambridgeshire County Council, claims the move could prevent lengthy closures such as the one which brought the city’s East Road to a virtual halt for weeks while new gas mains were laid.

She made her suggestion during Question Time at the county council meeting today (Tuesday, May 15) and it was agreed to look into such a scheme.

A similar idea, approved by the Department of Transport, will allow Transport for London to charge companies in the capital up to £2,500 a day for closing major roads. Companies will face lower charges if they carry out work outside of peak times.

"The county system at the moment has no incentive for speedy work, or to encourage work outside peak times" said Cllr Whitebread. "Given the frequency with which utilities companies need to carry out road works in Cambridge, I think a charging scheme of this type needs serious consideration.

"I also pushed the council to look at ways to encourage utility companies, when carrying out works, to keep roads open for cyclists. Often there is road space around the works that could be made available, but instead cyclists told to wait with cars or dismount and walk. In a city where so many people travel to school and work by bike, this clearly needs addressing."

The county council’s Cabinet Member for Community Infrastructure, Tony Orgee, agreed to look into such a scheme.

For me, nothing better illustrates the Liberal Democrat mission to make Britain a fairer place than our Pupil Premium: extra money for the most disadvantaged children in our schools.

We are letting schools decide the best way to spend this money. I want to strike a deal with our schools and teachers: we’ll give you the cash, the freedom, and we’ll reward and celebrate your success. But in return, we want you to redouble your efforts to close the gap between your poorer pupils and everyone else. We won’t be telling you what to do; but we will be watching what you achieve.

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto. And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Monday, 14 May 2012

Next week is Dying Matter Awareness Week, a week of events and activities that aim to encourage people to talk openly about dying, death and bereavement. Organised by the Dying Matters Coalition, a national coalition of more than 15,000 members that work to change public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards death, dying and bereavement, the theme of this year's awareness week is 'Small Actions, Big Difference’.

Events during the week aim to encourage individuals and organisations to take the simple steps that can make a big difference to people when they are dying or bereaved. Whether it is through sharing their wishes with someone close to them, registering to become an organ donor, writing a will, considering taking out a funeral plan, or making an effort to speak to someone who has been recently bereaved, members of the public can take small actions that make a real difference.

To find out more about Dying Matters Awareness Week or to find out how you can get involved visit the website here.

Cambridge Liberal Democrats have today (Monday, May 14) announced that Councillor Tim Bick will be taking over from Councillor Sian Reid as the group’s new leader.

Sian has decided to step down following surgery earlier this year and the need to take some time to fully recover.

The Lib Dems have also elected their front line team for the coming year with Cllr Catherine Smart continuing as the group’s deputy leader. They propose she will continue to have responsibility for housing, Cllr Tim Ward with the planning and sustainable transport portfolio,

Cllr Rod Cantrill with arts, sport and public places and Cllr Jean Swanson with the waste and recycling portfolio.

They will be joined by newly re-elected Cllr Mike Pitt who they propose to take responsibility for community development and health and Cllr Julie Smith for customer services and resources. Both have experience as executive councillors.

Tim will be proposed as Cambridge City Council Leader at the council’s annual meeting on May 24 when councillors will also vote on the nominations for executive councillors.

The Lib Dems will also be nominating Cllr Sheila Stuart as Mayor and Cllr Paul Saunders as Deputy Mayor for the coming year.

Tim said: “I am delighted to be given this opportunity but at the same time we are all sorry that Sian has decided not to re-stand. She has been a formidable leader of the group and the council and we are sorry that she wanted to step down."

Tim has represented Market Ward on Cambridge City Council for the past four years and served as Executive Councillor for Community Development for the last two. He has worked in human resources in the local technology sector for over 10 years and lives in the city centre. He brings experience of leading his party in local government in Warwickshire.

The Lib Dems are the largest party on the city council with half the seats and will propose a full Lib Dem administration at next week’s annual council meeting.

“We have a strong vision for this city and have far from run out of energy and ideas,” said Tim. “The council has work to do and needs to satisfy. There is no other party or collection of parties that is in a position to deliver sound, consistent government to the city.

“It is good for the city that the council's procedures envisage close results and help to avoid deadlock. The same procedures will give voice to the stronger Labour representation and we hope this will add richness to the council's decisions."

Sian’s two year leadership saw the city council through hard economic times. She faced tough decisions setting the council’s budget while at the same time making sure that basic services and those for the vulnerable were protected.

Before taking the leadership, she was Executive Councillor for Climate Change and Growth for four years.

During this time she worked hard to get the city council national recognition for its policy requiring developers of new homes to meet the highest levels of sustainable building.

One of her greatest achievements was the recognition for Cambridge in the Centre for Cities report which named it as one of the top cities in the UK to lead the country to economic recovery.

“I am delighted to hand over to Tim,” she said. “He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and I have every confidence that, together with his new front line team, the Liberal Democrats will continue to work hard for the people of Cambridge.

"I have been part of a fantastic team of people through extremely challenging times, and very much remain part of that team.”

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